


Why Get What's Expected (When the Unexpected Is So Much Fun)

by Stumbling-While-Balancing (Rellanka)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Getting together after being metaphorically smacked over the head, Kissing, M/M, Mutual Pining, Unexpected Galra Traits, Very slight unrequited Kolivan/Keith, wing fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-07
Updated: 2017-08-07
Packaged: 2018-12-12 09:06:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11733954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rellanka/pseuds/Stumbling-While-Balancing
Summary: Of all the things that Keith had expected to pop up as proof of his Galra heritage, wings had never quite made the cut.Luckily, Shiro’s there to help.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Note: The following could be after everyone has worked out everything in Season 3, or taking part in some alternate universe as you prefer to headcanon.

Keith stayed in his room for what Lance insisted through the doorway was a ridiculously long amount of time, and seriously, dude, do I need to get Pidge to hack your door.

Luckily, Shiro was there, saving Keith’s ass as always as he gently reminded Lance that as long as there was no urgent need for Voltron, Keith’s free time was his to do with as he wished. Even if that wish was Keith locking himself in his room for hours at a time.

Keith continued studying his reflection in the mirror with a grimace as he heard Lance stomp off in a huff, off-balance in more than one way from the newly additional weight to his back. 

No matter how much time passed, he couldn’t seem to stop staring at his new appendages as if a blink of his eyes would make them disappear and his life go back to normal. 

But Keith had blinked plenty of times since they had first shown up, and nope, the wings where still very much present in the room, and still very much sprouting from his back. 

Seriously, fuck Keith’s life sometimes. 

He jumped as there was a knock to the door, before realizing abruptly that while he had heard Lance’s overly loud departure, he had never heard Shiro’s softer footsteps walking away.

“Keith.” Shiro called through the door, tone gentle and understanding as it always was, “I don’t know why you don’t want to come out right now, but I do want you to know that you can talk to me. About anything, okay?”

There was a long pause as Shiro waited for a response, before a soft sigh sounded and a, “I’ll be in my room if you need me, okay Keith?” as he finally began walking away.

Damn Shiro for being perfect, anyway.

***

Keith winced as he opened his door and stepped out, already anticipating the reaction that his teammates would doubtlessly have after seeing his new look. Ever since Keith’s heritage had come to light to the team, the majority of them had kept expecting for him to suddenly sprout Galra features and watched for those features as if he were hiding them somehow.

Hunk kept somehow getting Keith to stand next to anything purple and stare at him until Keith inevitably realized that Hunk was comparing tones. Pidge had once literally measured his ears to see if they were growing at all, and seemed especially interested in seeing if they were growing a point at the top. Keith had manfully ignored the excited mutters of ‘kitty ears!’ that she had been whispering while doing so. Lance would not shut up about Keith growing a tail, even though tails weren’t even a Galra trait. 

Even Shiro wasn’t immune. Not that he had done anything overt or even anything that made Keith feel uncomfortable; but he had encouraged Keith to lay his head in his lap at the last movie night with the team, and Keith was 80% sure that the reason that Shiro kept running his hand through Keith’s hair was because he was trying to get Keith to purr. And it had nearly worked, damn him. Though Keith wasn’t sure if that was a sign of his heritage popping up, or just a natural result from Shiro touching him. 

But yes, anyway, back to the wings. 

The wings that were probably going to make Keith’s life 1000x more difficult once the team caught sight of them. Keith didn’t even know if they were capable of flight; and actually, that was an interesting question. Were they capable of flight? The wings did an odd ripple as his attention turned towards them, the feeling alien and strange. Keith pictured stretching out his arms behind his back, and the wings shifted again, spreading slightly before bunching back against his back again as the oddness of the sensation caused him to instinctively draw them back towards his body again.

This definitely called for some experimentation, probably while Shiro was not around, because Shiro was always great at keeping Keith from doing things that were dangerous or a bad idea. And as throwing himself off things to test if his wings would instinctually move to allow him to fly seemed both dangerous and probably a bad idea, Shiro wouldn’t be invited. Maybe he would invite Pidge. She’d probably do it for science.

A slight sound behind like someone tripping over their own feet alerted Keith to the facts that 

a. he was no longer alone in the hallway. And 

b. the upcoming reactions to his wings had officially begun.

…It was going to be a long day.

***

Despite the fact that they had been extremely supportive of him since teaming up with Voltron, answering any question he might have, training with him, and essentially treating him like a young member of their order, Keith would always secretly be a little freaked out when the Blade of Marmora members stared at him through their expressionless masks. He had a feeling that it might have something to do with the fact that his first interactions with their organization included him getting beaten repeatedly into the ground by the members while being given the same annoyingly cryptic statement again and again. Their interactions had greatly improved since that first meeting, but while Keith had forgiven, he hadn’t fully forgotten.

And the way they were all staring at him now was just eerie. 

Not that the rest of the room wasn’t doing the exact same thing, eyes glued to Keith’s form, and more specifically to the new additions to Keith’s form.

(Keith was glad that Coran and Allura weren’t actually on the main deck for once, but were instead off on some other part of the ship fixing one component or another. Allura had actually been really great about the Keith’s heritage after being given time to process it, but Keith knew that she still couldn’t help but sometimes be secretly bothered by reminders of him being Galra. And while Coran had never been anything but kind or allowed it to color his behavior toward Keith in any way, Keith had a sneaking suspicion that Coran struggled with the same feeling. It didn’t make them bad people; just ones that had suffered greatly at Galra hands.)

Lance was the first one to break the overwhelming silence, slumping over from where he’d been standing dumbstruck to groan dramatically into his hands. “Man, of all the members of the team to grow supper hot wings, did it have to be **Keith**?!” 

Keith opened his mouth before shutting it once more. He… honestly did not have a response to that one. Well, other than the ‘What the fuck, Lance?!’ that was playing on repeat in the back of his mind, but he didn’t think Shiro would appreciate it so he kept it silent. Still, Lance sure was a pal for showing such overwhelming concern for Keith’s mental well-being.

Luckily, it was Shiro that responded to that, clearing his throat pointedly before giving Lance a stern glance, then turning to the Blade of Marmora members that had up until now been completely silent.

“Kolivan, do you have any input as to why Keith is… suddenly grown wings?” He asked, his words pausing for a moment before mentioning Keith’s new bodily growth. 

(Keith inwardly groaned at how odd he probably appeared to Shiro now, before inwardly slapping himself silly for acting like a teenage girl with a crush.)

Kolivan stepped forward, and even with the mask on, he seemed… strange. As if he had been thrown completely off-kilter, which Keith guessed was not a feeling that Kolivan experienced a lot. 

“Very, very rarely Galra men and women grow wings after reaching their 20th year of life.” And Keith jerked a little at this. Was it his birthday already? He hadn’t realized it, but… mathematically it made sense. “They are called ‘The Blessed Ones.’” Kolivan continued, entirely cutting off Keith’s train of thought with the strange term, “Gifted individuals all born with gifts unique to them. Among the Galra, they are known to bring good luck and happiness to those they care about, and to be Chosen by a Blessed One is an honor unlike any other. They say that the bond and happiness shared between a Blessed One and their Chosen is deeper and more complete than any other in the universe. There hasn’t been a Blessed One amongst the Galra for quite some time to know for sure, but I believe the bond is a little like the ones that you Paladins share with your lions, a literal soul bond that allows the Blessed One and their Chosen to share emotions, thoughts, even dreams with one another.” 

Keith was silent while he tried to compute everything that Kolivan had just said. That… was a lot to process. Keith wasn’t quite sure what to do with all that. What _was_ he now?

“There hasn’t been a Blessed One,” Kolivan repeated, “Until now.”

Abruptly, Kolivan took off his mask and turned to Shiro, body language suddenly much more deferential than it had been before.

“You are the one that holds responsibility over the Blessed One, correct?” Kolivan asked in a tone that was more respectful then the words would have made it sound, “I would like to gain your permission to formally court him, if I may.” 

There was a moment of silence from all, then-

“Holy shit!” Lance whispered excitedly from somewhere off to the side, “Shiro’s going to kill him!” 

Studying Shiro’s expression, Keith thought that Lance… might not actually be far off. After freezing for a brief moment with an expression of pure shock, Shiro’s face had turned into the forced stonily polite one he gave when he was truly pissed off. He regarded Kolivan with eyes like frozen chips of ice, even as he bit out in a tone perfectly polite despite its chill, “Beyond orders while in Voltron, I don’t control Keith’s choices in any way. If he wants to be courted I’m sure he’ll let you know **himself.** ” 

“And I don’t.” Keith cut in as he watched Shiro’s body language stiffen impossibly more tightly into a military-like pose as the minutes passed. “No offense, but I don’t have any desire to be courted by Kolivan.” 

"Sorry." Keith offered awkwardly after turning his eyes back to the Blade leader.

At his words, Kolivan regarded him for a moment with what looked like a mixture of fondness, respect and regret, before bowing his head and saying, “I accept the Blessed One’s rejection and wish him happiness with the one he decides to Bless with his Choosing.”

It was oddly formal, and it left Keith feeling odd. As if he had unwittingly closed a door he hadn’t even realized was open. 

At some point, Shiro had moved to Keith’s side as if drawn there, and he placed a hand on Keith’s shoulder now and answered, “Thank you. I’m sure Keith will appreciate that if he ever decides to… Choose anyone.” Shiro stumbled slightly over the phrasing, the word ‘choosing’ having more of a weight to it then Shiro was familiar with giving the word. 

Kolivan regarded them silently, and it made Keith suddenly aware of the way that he was leaning into Shiro’s touch on his shoulder and turning toward his body as if he was subconsciously seeking out more of that same touch. After a moment where Shiro also became aware of how close they were standing and awkwardly moved away, Kolivan said, “I think he already has.” before turning to walk through the door out of the main deck, the other Blades trailing after him like shadows.


	2. A Wild Sheith Appears!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shorter then the first chap, but this is where Shiro and Keith get their act together.

Things had been awkward ever since Kolivan had left Keith in quite possibly one of the most embarrassing states that he’d ever been in. He knew that Kolivan probably knew about his feelings for Shiro, hell at this point, **everyone** probably knew about his feelings for Shiro. It was hardly like he hid them well with how concerned he stayed about Shiro’s wellbeing, and how Shiro was the only one he welcomed physical touch from. Fuck, Pidge snarkily teased him about his feelings for Shiro **all the time**. But never before had anyone just thrown them in Shiro’s face like that, the meaning of Kolivan’s words so obvious that they couldn’t be denied. Once the awkward silence that had set in after Kolivan’s departure had grown too much to bear, Keith had managed to just barely stumble and stutter and bluster his way out of the room, before taking off at a dead run down the hall for his own bedroom. 

He had been avoiding the rest of the team since then, even Shiro. **Especially** Shiro. Keith didn’t think he was going to be able to meet Shiro’s eyes again for a long time after this one. Some members of the team (Hunk) seemed to be sympathetic at least, and the baked treats that Hunk kept leaving at his door were greatly appreciated. At the very least, they were a lot better than the way that Pidge kept knocking at his door, before loudly calling him a melodramatic teenage girl when he didn’t answer. 

Considering his luck lately, Keith couldn’t really say that he was much surprised when one of his forays to the kitchen in the middle of the night to eat while the team was asleep had him running straight into the person he was trying to avoid most. 

He bounced off of Shiro’s chest, both shivering from the direct contact of Shiro’s body and feeling a little like he’d run into a wall at the hardness of his muscles. (Really, did Shiro have to train his body so much? It was hurting Keith’s sanity levels.) 

“Sorry.” Shiro said, reaching out a hand to catch Keith before he could fall over, his hand closing firm and strong on Keith’s forearm, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Keith said, shaking off Shiro’s hand maybe a little roughly and pushing past him, his wings- which apparently made Keith into some super special version of a Galra, just great- ruffling slightly at his inward nerves.

“Keith, wait!” Shiro called from behind him, and Keith turned back because he was always helpless at doing anything that might upset Shiro. 

Shiro was staring at him, a strange expression on his face even while his eyes searched Keith’s, “Was Kolivan right? When he said that you had already Chosen, I mean. Was he right?”

And Keith- Keith who had had feelings for Shiro nearly from the day that he had met him, Keith who treasured every look, every touch, every word that Shiro gave him for years-

Keith broke.

“YES! What, did you think my feelings for you were exactly hidden to anyone but you?! The team knows I’m in love with you, the Blade knows I’m in love with you, even that one alien woman on that weird planet with the floating mushrooms knows I’m in-“ 

Keith was cut off by Shiro’s- by Shiro’s **mouth**. He was cut off by Shiro’s mouth, because Shiro **was kissing him**. Was kissing Keith. Was kissing Keith with what felt like a passion born from something that felt like months, even years of unspoken feelings and frustration. Keith’s mind whirled as he tried to keep up with what was happening right now, even as he began meeting Shiro’s lips with equal fervor, his own longing and frustration rising up to match Shiro’s. 

Keith unwillingly broke apart from Shiro with a gasp as one of his wings bent strangely against the wall they were pressed against- because Keith was pressed against the wall now, he hadn’t noticed- and Shiro quickly pulled back so that Keith could straighten it. 

“Sorry,” Shiro said apologetically, “I’ll have to be more careful with those next time- I mean, assuming you want a next time- I mean I’m not trying to pressure you into-“

But Keith was the one cutting **him** off with a kiss this time. “Yeah, like I’m really going to be satisfied with a one-time make out session in the hall after pining after you for literal **years**.”

“Good.” Shiro smiled down at him like the sun, happy and joyous and like Keith had given him an irreplaceable gift, before bending down to draw Keith into more kisses.

***

“Coran’s going to be pleased,” Keith managed later once they had paused in their kisses for a moment, not quite knowing what else to say at suddenly being given all his dreams in a beautifully gift wrapped package, “I’m pretty sure he won the pot.”

Shiro’s eyebrows wrinkled for a bit, “Didn’t Coran have yesterday?” He asked, before smirking wryly at Keith’s look of surprise, “Just because I didn’t realize you had feelings for me, doesn’t mean I didn’t realize my feelings for you. Or that I didn’t know everyone was betting about us getting together. Allura’s been pushing me to confess for months now. I think she might have won the pot, actually, she’s going to be unbearable.”

“So,” Keith asked, it seeming funny to him now when it wouldn’t have if he wasn’t able to view it while being wrapped in Shiro’s arms, “That means that everyone knew we were in love with each other but us?”

“I guess so.” Shiro said dryly before bringing Keith closer once more, his eyes growing hooded, “But I’d like to discover some things they don’t know, now.” And he bent down and captured Keith’s lips once more before reaching out to run one gentle, explorative hand down Keith’s left wing. 

“Mmmmm,” Keith said-moaned into Shiro’s mouth as the act brought unexpected shocks of pleasure racing through his system.

He didn’t mind discovering some secrets with Shiro for them to keep for themselves.

He didn’t mind **at all**.

**End.**

**Author's Note:**

> Lol, I thought that Wings were a prompt for Sheith month, and I was so disappointed when I realized I was wrong. I think that I just really wanted to write wing!fic, which... I'm better with angst-y things, but this was fun so I don't mind. Fun fact though, I originally thought of the summary before the fic, and this was going to have Shiro grooming Keith's wings, but that didn't quite work out. I may add a timestamp or make this a series or something in the future where grooming and the exploration of Shiro's wing kink occurs, but I can make no promises about that. Hope you guys enjoyed! Let me know if grammar or flow is off.


End file.
